miR-34a (a tumor suppressor induced by p53 involved in EMT in CRC) [50, 51] correlates with several commonly regulated genes involved in signal transduction and EMT via the WNT and AKT signaling pathways including MAGEA3, GFRA3, EPHA5, ANK3 and TCF7. The uniquely upregulated INHBB, which correlates with miR-34a expression in proximal tumors (Fig. 6c), was also identified to be significantly associated with OS in RSCC (HR 95% CI - 0.34 (0.18–0.65), logrank p < 0.001). Here, AKT1 is linked to colorectal carcinoma.